Yes, Lynch looks like he'll cruise to re-election without working up much of a sweat. And while I think Sutter is a strong candidate worth watching, I think he really needed a Cape candidate in the primary, whether state rep O'Leary or someone else, to take votes away from Keating in the new 9th. Tough to see how Sutter wins.

What will the final result of Congressional redistricting be, and where do Republicans have a better than 50-50 shot of taking a seat or two in the 2012 elections?

The answer to your first question is still Steve Lynch and Bill Keating thrown together, according to what I'm hearing, but who knows what info is good and what isn't at this point -- we'll supposedly get our first official glimpse of map proposals within a couple of weeks.

You probably know that freshman Congressman Bill Keating voted yes on the debt-ceiling bill yesterday -- joining Steve Lynch and Niki Tsongas from the Massachusetts delegation, in a disappointment to Bay State liberals.

But here's an even more surprising vote: Keating voted yes on an amendment to restore Bush-era restrictions on travel to Cuba.

--Bill Keating's campaign, and supporters, need to be careful not to overplay their hand with the Jeff Perry scandal; they don't want to give an opening for Perry to paint himself as the victim of a concentrated attack by the great Massachusetts liberal political/media machine.

So alleged comedian Lenny Clarke, who last I saw ranting as MC at a Charlie Baker rally, got caught the other day joking to a Craig Spadafora fundraiser crowd that Spadafora's Democratic opponent for state senator, state representative and Katherine Clark, is a whore. The joke, I am led to understand, went something like this: "Katherine Clark is my aunt, and a whore.

It's been the Big Question in the 10th District race to replace Bill Delahunt in Congress: would one of the strip-search victims come forward to talk about it? Today, the question was answered.

In one sense, this doesn't change what has been clear for a very long time: very bad things were done right in front of Perry's nose; his behavior in response to that appears to have been reprehensible; and he has denied wrongdoing while seeming utterly incapable of telling a straight, consistent story to explain it all.

Boston PhoenixQ&A #3: RedistrictingPublished 9/23/2011 by David S. Bernstein
Who's having a great Ask Me Anything Friday? "North Shore Junkie" asks: What will the final result of Congressional redistricting be, and where do Republicans...